Automatic reeling machine



1968 KOICHIRO KUBO ETAL 3,408,715

AUTOMATIC REELING MACHINE Filed June 23, 1967 United States Patent 3,408,715 AUTOMATIC REELING MACHINE Koichiro Kubo and Yojiro Murata, Kyoto, Japan, as-

signors to Shimadzu Seisakusho Ltd., Kyoto, Japan, a corporation of Japan Filed June 23, 1967, Ser. No. 648,456 Claims. (CI. 2821) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An automatic reeling machine including a plurality of reeling units arranged side-by-side and spaced a predetermined distance apart, each unit having a reel for a single hank to be wound thereon, means for rotating each reel for winding thread thereon and means movable relative to said reeling units for lacing the hanks wound on said reeling units.

This invention provides an automatic reeling machine which have a plurality of reeling units each having a reel of an axial length just sufficient for a single hank to be wound thereon and arranged side by side along at least a portion of an endless path, on which a lacing device followed by a hank remover circulates for automatic lacing of the finished hanks on the units and subsequent removal of the laced hanks from the units.

There are known many types of reeling machines, which generally comprise a single reel cage elongated along the axis of rotation of the reel cage, on which many hanks are wound axially spaced a predetermined distance apart. Improvements have hetherto been directed to increasing the rotational speed of the reel cage and consequently the winding or reeling speed. However, with these known types of machines, the lacing or binding of finished hanks and the subsequent removal of the hanks from the reel cage are complicated and troublesome, and require much skill of the worker. For example, the lacing, that is binding of each one, more or less in a hank with a lacing thread has hitherto been manually performed. This requires much time and skill. For removal of laced hanks from the reel cage, the reel cage is deformed to reduce its diameter for the hanks thereon to be easily taken off the cage manually or otherwise. The mechanism for such selective reduction and restoration of the cage diameter is much complicated.

Another defect of the single elongated reel cage type of machines is that it is very diflicult to obtain uniform hanks from the same single machine. Since many hanks are simultaneously wound on the same and single reel cage, if during the winding operation, one of the hanks happens to have its thread broken or cut off, that hank would no longer be wound, so that when the other hanks have been completed, that one hank would contain an insuflicient quantity of thread. To avoid such an undesirable result, the machine must always be attended to by a worker during the operation so that if any of the threads happens to be broken, the cut end of the thread from the cheese is manually wound onto the rotating hank, or the machine is temporarily stopped to knot the cut ends of the thread. This, however, greatly decreases the reeling efficiency.

To eliminate the above defects, the automatic reeling machine of the invention is provided with a plurality of reeling units each having a reel of an axial length just sufficient for a single hank to be wound thereon and arranged along at least a portion of an endless path and spaced a predetermined distance apart from each other. A lacing device circulates on the endless path so that when the winding of a hank on each reeling unit has been completed, the lacing device operates to lace the completed hank. A hank remover also circulates on the endless path after the lacing device so that it removes the laced hank from the reel of each reeling unit.

3,408,715 Patented Nov. 5, 1968 The invention will be better understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference symbols denote like parts and wherein;

FIG. 1 schematically shows the elongated reel cage of a known reeling machine;

FIG. 2 is a schematic top plan view of a reeling machine embodying the invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view taken along line III-III of FIG. 2, showing one reeling unit;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view taken along line IV-IV' of FIG. 2, showing a lacing device; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view taken along line VV' of FIG. 2, showing a hank remover.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, first to FIG. 1, there is shown a reel cage generally designated at RK and comprising a shaft S rotated by a motor M and supporting a plurality, say, six cage slats CS extending parallel to the axis of the shaft. The slats are secured to the shaft by means of spokes SP and arranged circumferentially about the shaft at a distance therefrom. As shown, the cage slats are elongated axially enough for a plurality, say, six hanks H to be wound thereon axially spaced a distance apart, with six cheeses C feeding the hanks, respectively. The arrangement and structure is typical of the prior art reeling machines.

This invention, however, provides a fundamentally different arrangement. In the illustrated embodiment of invention, a pair of rows of reeling units RU are mounted side by side on a table T along the opposite sides thereof and spaced a predetermined distance apart from each other. A pair of endless guide rails GR encircle the table and a pair of sprockets wheels SW and SW disposed at the opposite ends of the table. A motor DM drives one of the sprocket wheels, say, SW, through a transfer clutch CL and is controlled by a switch ST. An endless chain EC passes about the sprocket wheels and carries a lacing device LD and a hank remover A pair of elongated drive rollers DR are arranged along the two rows of reeling units to rotate the reels on the units, as will be described later in detail. W

Turning to FIG. 3, each reeling unit RU comprises a body 10 secured to one side of the table T as at 11 and having on top thereof a cradle 12 which rotatably supports a reel 13 at the outer end thereof. A support plate 14 is secured to the bottom of the body for rotatably supporting a cheese 15. The cradle is secured to the body 10 by means of a pin 16, which also rotatably supports a roller 17 and a pulley 18 secured to the roller for rotation therewith. The roller 17 frictionally contacts the drive roller DR to be rotated thereby. The cradle 12 is provided at the top end thereof with a pulley 19 to which the reel 13 is secured for simultaneous rotation. An endless belt 20 passes about the pulleys 18 and 19 for drive connection to rotate the reel 13. The reel 13 comprises a plurality, say, six radial arms each having at its outer end an axial extension just sufficient to hold a single hank thereon As the reel 13 is rotated, a thread 15' from the cheese 15 is passed about the guide rollers 22 and 22' so as to be traversely wound on the reel 13 to form a hank 23 Turning now to FIG. 4, the lacing device LD comprises a body 24 hanging from a frame by means of a support box 26. The frame 25 is provided at the top thereof with a pair ofrollers 27 and 27' riding on the pair of guide rails GR and at the underside thereof with a pair of guide rods 28, only one of which is shown, extending perpendicularly to the guide rails GR and having rack teeth. 28' on the under surface thereof. The support box 26 is movable along the guide rods 28 by means of a drive pinion, enclosed therein and not shown, engaging the rack teeth 28, so that the lacing device LD is movable toward and away from the hank 23 on the reel 13 of the reeling unit. The frame 25 is secured to, the

endless chain EC so that the lacing device LD can circulate on the endless guide rails GR as the chain runs.

A pair of lacing needles 29 and 30 are mounted on the body 24 of the lacing device, extending at right angles to each other and each axially movable relative to the body 24 by a suitable mechanism enclosed therein and driven by a motor 31. Each needle has a hole through which a lacing thread from a cheese 32, 33 mounted on the body 24. A knotter KN is provided between the two lacing needles 29 and 30 to help the lacing operation. Electric energy may be supplied to the motor 31 via the guide rails GR or by any other suitable circuit means.

Each reeling unit is provided with a limit switch 34 inserted in the energizing circuit of the motor DM and adapted to be actuated by the frame 25 of the lacing device LD as shown in FIG. 4 to stop the motor DM and, consequently, the chain EC, thereby positioning the lacing device just where its lacing needles 29 and 30 can work on the bank on the reeling unit. When the lacing device stops at this position, the motor 31 is started to rotate the drive pinion in the box 26 so that the body 24 is moved toward the reeling unit so far as the hank 23 is positioned between the two lacing needles 29 and 30, as shown in FIG. 4, whereupon the lacing of the completely wound hank is performed with the lacing threads drawn out of the cheese 32 and 33 in a well known manner, with the help of the knotter KN. When the body 24 of the lacing device is moved toward and away from the lacing position, the lacing needle 29 is retracted into the body so that it does not engage with the hank thereby to interfere the movement of the body.

Turning to FIG. 5, the hank remover HR comprises a body 36 hanging from a frame 37. The frame 37 is provided at the top thereof with a pair of rollers 38 and 38' riding on the guide rails GR and at the underside thereof with a pair of guide rods 39, only one of which is shown, extending perpendicularly to the guide rails GR and having rack teeth 39' on the under surface thereof. Secured to the body 36 is an arm 40 having a plurality, say, three L-shaped hooks 40-1, 40-2 and 40-3 for removing the laced hank off the reel.

The body 36 is supported by the rods 39, with a driving pinion, enclosed therein and not shown, engaging the rack teeth 39' of the rods 39. The drive pinion is rotated by a motor enclosed in the body and not shown, so that the body 36 with the arm 40 is moved toward and way from the reel of the reeling unit. The movement of the body 36 toward the hank is synchronous with that of the body 24 of the lacing device toward the bank. Also, the movement of the body 36 with the arm 40 of the remover toward the hank is limited so that the hooks 40-1, 40-2 and 40-3 are positioned just between the radial arms of reel 13 on the reeling unit, so that as the hank remover is moved, in the manner described later, from the reverse toward the obverse of the drawing sheet in FIG. 5, the hooks can pass between the radial arms of the reel, thereby removing the hank off the reel.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lacing device LD is mounted on the chain EC, spaced a distance apart forward from the hank remover HR in the direction X of movement of the chain EC, and the distance between the two devices LD and HR are somewhat greater than the distance between each adjacent pair of the reeling units RU. To put it in other words, if the bank remover HR is positioned in its working position just in front of the-first reeling unit RU-l, the lacing device is positioned ahead of (to the right side of) the next reeling unit RU-2, as shown in FIG. 2.

In operation, a cheese is set on the support place 14 of each reeling unit, and the yarn is drawn out of the cheese and passes about the guide rollers 22 and 22 to be tied onto the reel 113. The lacing device and the hank remover are positioned at A and A, respectively, as shown in FIG. 2. Then, the drive rollers DR are rotated to rotate the rol1e r,.17 on each reeling ,unit so that the yarn from the cheese 15 is wound onto the reel 13. When a predetermined quantity of yarn has been wound on the reel 13, the drive rollers are stopped by operating the clutch CL to run the endless chain clockwise in FIG. 2. First, the lacing device comes to the position where the frame 25 hits on the limit switch 34 of the first reeling unit RU-l, whereupon the motor DM is stopped to stop the lacing device there. At the same time, the motor 31 on the body 24 of the lacing device is energized to move the body 24 leftward in FIG. 4 to the bank on the unit RU-l until the hank is positioned between the needles 29 and 30 (the needle 29 being retracted at this time out of the way of the bank), whereupon a limit switch 35 mounted on the box 26 is actuated to break the drive connection between the motor 31 and the drive pinion in the box 26 so as to stop the body 24 at that position and at the same time the needles are operated to perform the lacing of the hank. When the lacing has been completed, the body 24 returns rightward to its original position, leaving the laced bank on the reel of the first unit RU-1. Then, the switch ST=is again thrown in to run the chain to advance the lacing device LD as far as the next reeling unit RU-Z, where it performs the same lacing operation on the finished bank on that unit.

As previously mentioned, the distance between the lacing device and the hank remover is somewhat greater than the distance between the adjacent reeling units. In other words, when the lacing device has arrived at the second reeling unit RU-2, the bank remover has arrived just before the first reeling unit RU-l. It is now recalled that the body 36 of the bank remover moves toward the reel of the reeling unit in synchronism with the movement 0 the body 24 of the lacing device in the same direction. Then, when the body 24 of the lacing device is moved toward the hank on the second reeling unit UR-2 for lacing operation, the hank remover, now positioned just before the first reeling unit UR-l, has its hooked arm 40 moved into its advanced position as shown in FIG. 5. Under the condition, When the lacing of the hank on the second reeling unit is finished, the lacing device returns to its backward position and then is moved onto the third reeling unit RU-3, during which time the hank remover passes the first reeling unit RU-l, with the hooks of the projecting arm 40 of the hank remover engaging with the laced hank off the reel on the unit UR-l. As the hank remover advances toward the second reeling unit, the projecting arm 40 thereof is retracted for easy removal of the hank therefrom, and then the hank remover stops before the second reeling unit RU-2 when the lacing device has arrived at the third reeling unit. Any suitable control means may be employed for accomplishing the above sequence of operation. Thus, lacing of the hanks on the reeling units and removal of the laced hanks therefrom are successively performed with efiiciency and without fail.

It is now believed to have become apparent that the characteristic of the invention lies in the provision of a plurality of reeling units arranged in a row a predetermined distance apart from each other, with a lacing device and a hank remover adapted to circulate on an endless path along the row of reeling units, so as to perform their respective function on the hanks formed on the reeling units. Accordingly, the invention has various advantages over the prior art single elongated reel cage type of machines. The invention greatly increases the reeling efiiciency. Manual labor for lacing and removal of the laced hank is eliminated. Hanks are wound individually on the separate reeling units, so that even when one or more of the reeling units have their thread broken, the other units can con'ttinue their reeling operation. Furthermore, with the machine of the invention, it is possible to obtain substantially uniform hanks, that is, hanks containing equal quantities of thread.

It is understood that the invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment, but that there may be many modifications and changes. For example, the lacing device and the hank remover may be of a different construction, or may be operated separately. The bodies 24 and 36 of the two devices may be stationary and instead the reeling units may be of such a construction that the cradle 12 is pivotable toward the lacing needles 29 and 30 or the hooked arm 40 for the finished hank on the reel to be acted on by the devices. Each reeling unit may have its own motor for rotating the reel, or the pulleys 18 of all the units in a row may be mounted on a common drive shaft for simultaneous rotation.

What we claim is:

1. An automatic reeling machine comprising: a plurality of reeling units arranged side by side and spaced a predetermined distance apart from each other, each said unit having a reel for a single hank to be wound thereon; means for rotating said reel on each said reeling unit, thereby winding thread on said reel; and means movable relative to said reeling units for lacing the hanks wound on said reeling units.

2. The reeling machine of claim 1, further including means movable relative to said reeling units for removing the laced hanks from said reeling units.

3. The reeling machine of claim 2, further including means for defining an endless path extending along said reeling units; means for moving said lacing means and said removing means along said endless path; and control means for causing said lacing means to perform lacing operation on the hanks on said reeling units and said removing means to remove the laced hanks from said reeling units.

4. The reeling machine of claim 1, wherein said reel rotating means comprises at least one elongated drive roller, and wherein each said reeling units comprises a body, a cradle mounted on said body, a reel rotatably supported by said cradle, a roller mounted on said body so as to frictionally contact said elongated drive roller to be rotated thereby, and belt-and-pulley means mounted on said cradle for drive connection between said lastmentioned roller and said reel.

5. The reeling machine of claim 1, wherein each said reeling unit comprises a body, a cradle mounted on said body, a reel rotatably supported by said cradle, and wherein said reel rotating means comprises a motor mounted on each said unit and means for effecting drive connection between said motor and said reel.

6. The reeling machine of claim 1, wherein said reel rotating means includes at least one common shaft, means for rotating said common shaft, and means mounted on each said reeling unit for effecting drive connection between said common shaft and each said reel.

7. The reeling machine of claim 2, wherein each said reeling unit comprises a body, a cradle mounted on said body, a reel rotatably supported by said cradle, said cradle being selectively movable toward and away from said lacing means and said removing means so that the hank on said reel is acted on by said lacing means and said removing means.

8. The reeling machine of claim 3, wherein said lacing device comprises first means movable along said endless path and second means connected to said first means for movement therewith, said second means having lacing needles and being movable also relative to said first means generally perpendicularly to the direction of movement of said first means, toward and away from the hank on each said reeling unit.

9. The reeling machine of claim 3, wherein said removing means comprises first means movable along said endless path and second means connected to said first means for movement therewith, said second means having hooks and being movable also relative to said first means generally perpendicularly to the direction of movement of said first means, toward and away from the hank on each said reeling unit.

10. The reeling machine of claim 3, wherein said moving means includes an elongated flexible endless member adapted to run in a predetermined direction along said reeling units, said lacing means and said removing means being secured to said endless member at a greater distance apart from each other than the distance between the adjacent reeling units, said lacing means being mounted on said endless member ahead of said removing means in the direction of movement of said endless member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 663,925 12/1900 Nordmann 282l 916,690 3/1909 Ferenbach 28-21 3,323,189 6/1967 Hayashl 28-21 LOUIS K. RIMRODT, Primary Exaiminer. 

